Hundreds of people lined the halls of Penn High School Thursday afternoon to support the family of two former students, Nick and Jack Savage, who both died of an apparent overdose Sunday morning. Mishawaka, Ind. Hundreds of people lined the halls of Penn High School Thursday afternoon to support the family of two former students, Nick and Jack Savage, who died of an apparent overdose Sunday morning.

Nick Savage, 19, and Jack Savage, 18, were found unresponsive in their parents' home on Woodington Court in the Brendon Hills subdivision shortly before 11 a.m.

St. Joseph County Metro Homicide detectives said the two brothers consumed a cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol at a party Saturday night in the 15000 block of Bryanton Court.

Visitation goers said the brothers were well known students and hockey players at the school.

“He was one of the best captains I think I've ever played against,” fellow hockey player Charlie McFadden said of Jack Savage. “He knew how to lead a team.”

Students, friends, family, teachers and other community members paraded slowly into the gym where the visitation was being held.

The family had assembled a memorial of pictures, hockey trophies and jerseys, paying tribute to their athletic careers.

“If anything bad happens the community comes together and supports whoever,” said fellow hockey player Andy Han, who plays for St. Joseph High School with McFadden.

Many visitors said the tragic way that the students died would serve as a lesson for area teens for many years to come.

“I mean life is obviously precious and life is obviously quick and it gave me a wakeup call to always value the time we have,” McFadden said.

The funerals will take place Friday, June 19, at Sunnyside Presbyterian Church at 115 S. Frances Street in South Bend.

The Nick and Jack Savage Memorial Fund has been established at Teachers Credit Union. Donations may be made at any branch office.

According to the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office, no criminal charges have been filed at this time.

Toxicology tests could take up to eight weeks to determine the exact causes of the brothers' deaths. The investigation remains active and ongoing.

BREAKING: Granger brothers died by acute oxycodone and alcohol intoxication

Posted: Mon 7:07 PM, Jul 20, 2015By: Karina E. Flores

The St. Joseph Chief Deputy Coroner Chuck Hurley tells us the deaths of the two brothers, Nick and Jack Savage, were caused by acute oxycodone and alcohol intoxication.

Granger brothers Jack (left) and Nick (right) Savage died Sunday of an apparent drug overdose after attending a party Saturday night.

GRANGER, Ind. New information in the deaths of two Granger brothers found dead after a party last month has been released.

The St. Joseph Chief Deputy Coroner Chuck Hurley tells us the deaths of the two brothers, Nick and Jack Savage, were caused by acute oxycodone and alcohol intoxication.

The manner of the deaths was ruled accidental.

Nick and Jack Savage were found in their home unresponsive on June 14th of this year after attending a house party the night before. Metro Homicide said one brother was found in the basement while the other was discovered upstairs. The brothers were pronounced dead at their home.http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/BREA ... 45051.html

"Preserving and protecting the principles of the Constitution is the primary role of the federal government."

St. Joseph County prosecutors Tuesday filed criminal charges against two teens in connection with the June house party that resulted in the overdose deaths of two Granger brothers, but stopped short of directly accusing anyone of supplying the fatal doses of prescription drugs and alcohol.Nineteen-year-old Nick Savage and 18-year-old Jack Savage were found dead in their parents' home June 14, after they attended the party at another home. On Monday, the county coroner's office released toxicology results that showed the brothers died from a combination of oxycodone and alcohol.Kyle Treber, 19, is charged with three felony counts of dealing in a narcotic drug and one felony count of possession of a narcotic drug, the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office announced today. He was booked into the county jail and released on bond.

Lauren Schwindaman, 18, is charged with a misdemeanor count of furnishing alcohol to a minor. She also was booked and released on bond.An attorney was not listed for either Treber or Schwindaman.Because investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the Savage brothers got oxycodone from a source other than Treber, no one has been directly charged with furnishing drugs to the brothers, Jessica McBrier, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, said in a news release.According to court documents released today, Schwindaman hosted the party at her parents' Bryanton Court home while they were out of town. She allegedly encouraged party-goers to bring their own alcohol, and witnesses reported widespread underage drinking at the home that night.At one point, Treber allegedly arrived with a prescription pill bottle of oxycodone, widely known by the brand name Oxycontin, and passed the bottle around to several people. Three witnesses told police they took some of the pills from Treber.However, investigators found two other pill bottles at other locations where the Savage brothers may have been able to access them, according to the documents. McBrier said she could not discuss where the other two bottles were found.Through McBrier, Prosecutor Ken Cotter and Deputy Prosecutor Chris Fronk denied an interview request from The Tribune today.McBrier also could not discuss whether prosecutors expected to charge anyone else in connection with party or file additional charges related to the Savage brothers' deaths.A cell phone belonging to another individual who had been at the party was found next to one of the Savage brothers. The cell phone's owner consented to police searching it for text messages.

"When detectives reviewed text messages that had been sent and received on Saturday the 13th, they saw several texts about the OxyContin pill bottle being passed around at the party and statements about who had taken the pills along with who had been passing the pills out," a Metro Homicide investigator wrote in the probable cause affidavit. "The number of text messages was upwards of 100."

Treber also was later found suffering from an overdose, and the bottle of oxycodone was found in one of his pockets, according to the documents. Emergency workers revived him using the drug naloxone, which counteracts the effects of opioids.Treber was an all-state linebacker on the Penn High School football team as a senior this past school year. He played for the North team in the annual Indiana Football Coaches Association North-South All-Star game Saturday in Indianapolis.An attempt to reach the family of Nick and Jack Savage by telephone for comment was not successful today.

What's rather ironic is that when I was a teenager back in the early 70's we used to have parties just like this, booze, and whatever pills we could get out of the medicine cabinets. Some of the drugs we had access to are more dangerous than many of the drugs today. Nothing has changed in the "War on Drugs" in 45 years. The same things happen. People die in car wrecks, overdoses, and accidents.

bdcbbq

"Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.” John Stuart Mill

In reference to Marijuana being a gateway drug, I agree with Xenokilla on this. Besides, alcohol is the gateway drug as it lowers inhibitions and almost always is paired with heavier drugs. Everybody knows just how bad alcohol is.

MISHAWAKA -Big changes for Penn High School Families. The school is making a major shift when it comes to the student drug policy. It comes after a recent PHM graduate, and his older brother, died from an overdose at a party earlier this summer.

The deaths of Nick and Jack Savage shocked the community and was a big reason for the change in policy. The goal? To save students' lives. "We're trying to remove any of the barriers we can so they'll reach out for help," said Superintendent Dr. Jerry Thacker. Effective immediately, Penn High School's code of conduct says students won't get in trouble if they call for help when a friend needs medical attention. Also, students can seek help for a drug problem without fear of punishment. "If we reduce the fear we can have more people reaching out and calling for assistance," Dr. Thacker said. A board member suggested the policy, basing it on similar rules at Big Ten schools. The board's research shows they're likely the first high school in Indiana to have such a policy. They felt the need for a change after two graduates, Nick & Jack Savage, overdosed on prescription pills. "That tragedy for the next several years we're going to have students who truly take this seriously," Dr. Thacker said.

Police say they like the new policy; they think it'll help them save lives.

"We want kids to be interested in making good decisions, but when they don't we don't want them to be some kind of cascading effect that results in a tragedy," Assistant St. Joseph County Police Chief William Thompson said. Police say more students will come forward if they see the school holding up their end of the bargain by not punishing those who seek help. "It's not going to keep it from happening, but our goal is by more people reporting it, we're able to get them the help they need," said Mishawaka DARE Officer Lt. Tim Williams. A good step that police and school officials hope will prevent another tragedy. "We want to see it stop, you know. We don't want families to have to go back and remember their children through photographs," Lt. Williams said.

You may remember Indiana already has a lifeline law. That allows anyone to call for help during an overdose and not get in trouble. Before, any consumption or possession of alcohol or drugs would have meant a student couldn't take part in half an athletic season or extracurricular activity.

Rob and Marisa Schwindaman were angry when their daughter Alex called them at 1:30 a.m. in their Orlando, Fla., hotel room.Alex told her parents that she and her older sister, Lauren, had disobeyed them, hosting a party that night at their Granger home. But that wasn't the worst of the news. She explained that Penn High School all-state football player Kyle Treber, one of their guests, had to be rushed to the hospital for treatment of an apparent overdose of oxycodone mixed with alcohol.

Their anger then turned to horror about noon the following day, when the Schwindamans received word that brothers Nick and Jack Savage, 19 and 18, respectively, had died of apparent overdoses at their own home after having attended the party.As a father of four, Rob Schwindaman said he can't imagine the pain the Savages’ parents are suffering, and he acknowledges Lauren made a huge mistake by hosting the party June 13.Still, he said, his daughter is no criminal and feels how she responded to events that night should have shielded her from a criminal charge she now faces.“She didn’t even hesitate or think about any charges that could come to her,” he said. “There were 15 other kids sitting down in that basement watching Kyle turning blue and passing out.”After hearing about the case, a state lawmaker said he’ll introduce a bill next year to expand legal immunity for teens who host parties and then seek medical help for their young guests who become sick from drug or alcohol use.Indiana’s Lifeline Law, authored in 2012 by Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, shields help-seeking teens in such situations from public intoxication and minor possession, consumption and transportation of alcohol charges. The idea is to encourage them to seek help without fearing legal repercussions.But Lauren has discovered the hard way that the law, which she first learned about at Penn, doesn’t necessarily mean kids who call for help won’t face any charges.About a month after the party, St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter charged her with furnishing alcohol to a minor, a Class B misdemeanor. She was handcuffed, booked and quickly released after her father posted bond.Dr. Brett Stephens, a radiologist who lives across the street from the Schwindamans, said he didn't want to comment on the legality of Lauren's case, but he said he's convinced her actions that night helped save Treber's life.After Alex noticed Treber had passed out and his lips had started turning blue, Lauren ran across the street and asked Stephens for help. Stephens and his wife, a nurse, came over and assessed the situation. Some of the kids had been trying to induce vomiting in Treber, but Stephens told them it was too late for that, and that could cause him to choke.Treber was still breathing but his breaths were shallow, Stephens said. He still had a pulse, but if he hadn't had one, the doctor was ready to perform CPR.

Stephens quickly told one of the youths to call 911. He said he wasn't sure any of them would have done that on their own."I was upset that Lauren was never given any credit in the media or publicly for having the courage to come get me and tell me that someone was in trouble in her basement," Stephens said. "Had she not, that boy probably would've died within the next 10 minutes. Timing was of the essence."

Paramedics arrived and gave Treber Narcan, a drug that counteracts the effects of the oxycodone, and he regained consciousness. Stephens rode in the ambulance with Treber to Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, where he spent the next three days and recovered. Treber now faces felony charges alleging he gave oxycodone to other teens — not the Savages.The next morning, Alex and Lauren told Stephens and paramedics that an exchange student also had taken oxycodone, Stephens said. Stephens and some of the teens rushed to the home of the exchange student's host family about five minutes away, and he also was found to have overdosed. He had been vomiting all morning, but his complications weren’t as severe as the Savages’ and Treber’s, and he survived.“What if she wouldn’t have called?” Rob Schwindaman said. “We would’ve been burying more kids. What message is this sending if you’re going to prosecute Lauren? Here’s what I’m getting between the lines: Two boys are dead and someone needs to be held accountable. But that doesn’t mean prosecute people just to prosecute.”According to the probable cause affidavit in Lauren’s case, prosecutors aren’t alleging she gave anyone alcohol. Other teens told police the party was “BYOB,” an acronym meaning, “bring your own beer,” the affidavit states.Instead, the affidavit alleges she did “recklessly, knowingly or intentionally provide or arrange for the use of property for the purpose of allowing or enabling a minor to consume an alcoholic beverage on the property.”Merritt, who travels to schools and teaches kids about the Lifeline Law, indicated the charge against Lauren, filed pursuant to a statute commonly known as “The Host Law,” might be legally correct, but it violates the spirit of the Lifeline Law.“We will work on The Host Law to protect (teens) in future situations such as this because we want no barriers to calling 911,” Merritt said. “We will work on legislation that will give immunity to the future Lauren Schwindamans of the world. There will be a bill. I will work on this the rest of my career if I have to.”Rob Schwindaman said Lauren’s attorney, Len Zappia, initially approached Cotter with a request to enter a plea agreement that would include pre-trial diversion, which would allow the crime to be wiped from her record if she complies with conditions and stays out of trouble. But he said Cotter refused.Now Schwindaman said he wants his daughter to fight the charge and take it to trial. He’s become more certain of that as he has learned more about the Lifeline Law, although he realizes it doesn’t apply to her case as furnishing alcohol to a minor isn't one of the crimes it exempts.Cotter declined to comment because the case is still pending, as did David Powell, executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council.Lauren is now a freshman at Indiana University Bloomington. Her next court date is Nov. 24, when she’ll be home for Thanksgiving break.Schwindaman said he had not heard of the Lifeline Law before this case. He credited his brother, Mike Schwindaman, with researching the law and making connections with several nonprofit groups that work to educate teens about the law.They include the Indianapolis-based Indiana Youth Services Association, whose “Making Good Decisions” campaign urges teens and young adults to call for help if a peer has abused alcohol or drugs.“Ultimately, young people need to hold a belief that getting in trouble is still better than letting a friend die,” said Michele Welchel, chief advancement officer with the IYSA. “We also hope that the legal system will recognize that young people making the bigger decision to save a life should impact the decision to prosecute. As far as Lauren’s case, we are in hopes that the legal system will recognize that she made the call and saved two lives and she will not face any charges.”Stephens agreed."I think it's going to be a shame if the charges go through," Stephens said, "and kids learn about this case and say, 'Lauren got into trouble, why should I do anything?' "